100 Ghost Collection by Jiu Lu Fei Xiang
《百鬼集》 作者: 九鹭非香
Ch 19 ~ Ghost Painting (Ending)
Editor & Translator: Sonrisa t.n.t
~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~
In the early morning, on the outskirts of the city, in the forest, a thin layer of fog was everywhere. Jing Ning kneaded his forehead and sat up. He looked at the bonfire, he was unsure when the fire was put out. Then, he looked at Mo Hua, who was sleeping peacefully beside him, and said softly: “Wake up.”
Mo Hua pouted and murmured: “Master.” Her voice was so soft, as if it was trying to enchant the listener.
Without any changes in his expression, Jing Ning simply started to straighten his clothes. For a while, Mo Hua just lay on the ground and stared at him. When she saw that he had no intention of coming over to help her up, she stood up in dissatisfaction: “Master doesn’t have tender feelings for this disciple at all.” With a roll of her eyes, she said with a skillful smile, “Master, your hair is caught in your clothes. Let Mo Hua fix it for you.”
Jing Ning was straightening his sleeves, waiting for Mo Hua to approach him. Even before a pair of pale tender hands touched his lapels, Jing Ning asked: “Where is Mo Hua?” He did not even look at her, it was as if he was asking what the weather was like today, a little cloudy with breezy wind, indifferent and unfeeling.
When “Mo Hua” heard these words, her entire body trembled. She put on a smile, but in the deepest part of her eyes, a greenish light gradually came through: “Master, what are you talking about, what fox… Ah!” She gave a blood-curdling screech. She slumped to the ground without any strength left in her body. When she turned her head back, she saw that one of her tails was completely severed by a sword that came out of nowhere.
The sword was crystal clear and overflowed with spiritual energy. It was a rarely-seen sword used to slay demons. This sudden attack made “Mo Hua”‘s face distort in pain and immediately revealed her true form. She was actually the Three-Tailed Demon Fox that Jing Ning was chasing!
With a casual wave of Jing Ning’s hand, the sword dissipated into the air like morning fog.
The demon fox that had just lost a tail looked at Jing Ning in terror: “Who… Who are you? The Taoist priest who chased after me and tried to kill me a few days ago was obviously not that powerful.”
From inside his sleeve, Jing Ning fished out a talisman. This talisman was different from the other talismans that he usually used. This talisman was written in red ink on gold paper, containing an imposing aura of death. With just one glance, the demon fox cowered in fear and backed away. Jing Ning said indifferently: “Come, tell me the entire process of this situation in detail.”
Seeing that she could not escape, with a sneer, the demon fox finally said: “Isn’t it better for you to hurry over to the Liu’s house to save your demon painting of a disciple, than waste time here with me? If you’re a step late, I’m afraid that her three immortal souls and seven mortal forms will already be eaten by the grudgeful ghost in the painting.”
As Jing Ning frowned, he muttered to himself for a moment. Then he grabbed the demon fox by the collar and dragged her to the ground: “If that’s the case, then you’ll explain it clearly on the way there.”
When the area where the demon fox’s tail was severed off rubbed on the ground, she cried in constant wails of pain, and her beautiful face contorted into a painful expression: “Ancient Immortal, this little demon was wrong! This little demon was wrong! This little demon does not dare to sneer at you again!”
Only then, did Jing Ning let her go and ordered her: “Obediently follow me. I won’t look back, but if I don’t hear your voice, the Qing Yang Sword will not be polite.” As if to verify his words, the crystal clear sword gleamed before the demon fox’s eyes, and then disappeared without a trace.
Sweating profusely, the demon fox hurriedly said: “Recently, there are too many demon-slaying Taoist priests in Jin City, so, it is becoming more and more difficult for this little demon to find food. A few months ago… When I attacked that scholar, I was reluctant to absorb his entire soul all at once, so his remaining soul was temporarily imprisoned in one of his paintings. Who would have thought that in such a short period of time, his painting gave birth to spiritual consciousness and became a demon painting. The demon painting couldn’t bear to see her master imprisoned and couldn’t be reincarnated, so she wanted to kill me… But her demon power was still weak. After I gravely injured her, I imprisoned her in the painting together with him.”
“A few days ago, the Liu Mansion was haunted, maybe it was that scholar’s soul, he became grudgeful and turned into a malicious ghost.”
Jing Ning quickened his pace a little bit. He thought about Mo Hua’s previous life. So she had to live every day stuck inside a painting with such a grudgeful ghost, it had to have been very difficult.
“After you rescued Mo Hua, she became your disciple. She must have wanted to use the Ancient Immortal’s hand to get rid of this little demon.” The demon fox’s eyes circled around and said, “Then Ancient Immortal, Mo Hua is not sincere towards you…”
Without any changes in his expression, Jing Ning softly replied: “Do you think I’m as stupid as demons like you, that I can’t see when something is fishy?”
Once again, the demon fox was shocked: “So, you… Ancient Immortal, concealed your strength, and even got scratched by this little demon, in order to test that Mo Hua?” To herself, the demon fox called the Taoist priest treacherous, but the expression on her face was woeful. The demon fox asked: “Since the Ancient Immortal already knows Mo Hua’s intentions, why are you still going to save her now?”
Jing Ning did not answer, but asked in return: “Why don’t you tell me the reason why you’re here?”
With a trembling heart, the demon fox’s lips twitched, not wanting to answer. However, when she recalled Jing Ning’s order from before, she reluctantly said: “Okay… Last night, Mo Hua used a dagger stained with your blood to assassinate this little demon, and so this little demon resealed her back into the painting in the Liu Mansion. Then in a spontaneous moment, an idea popped up in my head and this little demon became daring. Since the demon painting could get the Ancient Immortal’s blood, then maybe this little demon could-could to… So this little demon came here hastily and offended the Ancient Immortal. This little demon is really guilty.”
In the final analysis, it was the demon painting that could not bear to let Jing Ning face the demon fox again. She was afraid that he would get hurt, therefore, she was reluctant to let him risk it again. Mo Hua had truly fallen in love with this man.
Thinking about this, the demon fox could not help but shake her head and sighed: “Demons with good hearts, most of them do not have a good ending. Which one of them, who had fallen in love with a mortal, did not die tragically, let alone a…” Taoist priest.
A treacherous and cunning Taoist priest!
Jing Ning lowered his eyebrows slightly when he heard these words.
~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~
Previous Chapter * Main Page * Next Chapter
~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~
Enjoy your reading pleasure!
Please do not copy my English translations. You are welcome to link back to my website. Much appreciated.
~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~
Sonrisa t.n.t 